Fairy Tale
by GoddessDiana
Summary: FORMERLY "FORGET ME NOT" AU Fairies hid their existence from the other beings of Middle Earth, so when one hot headed fay falls for an elf, she finds herself in more than her usual trouble.
1. The Blossoms of Spring

Name: Forget Me Not  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: Tangle Goblinfrost is a fairy, more specifically, a Fay; a fairie that sort of helps Mother Nature get her tasks completed. On a rough day Tangle spots Prince Legolas, an elf and is immediately infatuated with him. As a fairy she cannot reveal herself to him but then again, maybe she won't have to.  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to the Lord of the Rings do you really think I'd be writing this in my spare time?  
  
Author's Note1: I have erased the three chapters I had up of my old story, Faith in Dreams, because despite re-writing it, I was still displeased. I decided to start fresh with a new story (although I might pick up the old one later) and actually took the time to plan out everything I wanted to happen all the way to the ending before I began writing (my biggest mistake with Faith in Dreams). So here it is! Enjoy!  
  
Author's Note2: Alright this is a slight AU, nothing having to do with Sauron or anything like that which is why I left this as Greenwood instead of Mirkwood.

Author's Note3: I do not currently have a Beta reader and only have WordPadw hich does not have a spell check, so despite the fact that I have re-read this many times, please excuse any minor spelling or grammar mistakes. Thank you!

Middle Earth contained many magical beings; elves, wizards, and hobbits galore. To other places Middle Earth was a Fairy Tale, with courageous heroes and dragons to slay, a place where Kings and Queens still ruled over their people. To the inhabitants of Middle Earth however, this was nothing special, this was the life they knew and were used to. Even they had Fairy Tales they read to their children at night; containing creatures that were made up by one's mind rather than having been seen by one's eyes or heard by one's ears. Despite this, there would always be a time where one would wonder: They could be real couldn't they? Of course, many of these creatures they read of were indeed the works of fiction, but one type, was not.

Fairies. The very creatures that gave Fairy Tales their title. And ironically enough, the original keepers of many of the tales within them that were read at night. Many of the Fairy Tales had once been the fairie's history; their accomplishments and their struggles that they would regale one another with on social occasions.

Alas, there had been few fairies who had made contact with the other creatures of Middle Earth, letting their tales be told and enjoyed, but with the misconception that they were merely tales; fictional stories with a hidden lesson. This gave the beings not privileged to knowing a fairy a brief glimpse into their lives, and even that small glimpse had a touch of magic to it, that each creature felt happy and blessed to have felt.

These stories however, also grew and grew by those who heard and re-told them. Each tale being altered and added to until they were unrecognizable to the truth. The small truth that Middle Earth had known of fairies disappeared, possibly to never be known again.

In Middle Earth's tales, fairies were tiny men and women with beautiful butterfly wings who lived amongst the flowers, granting wisdom and happiness to those they wished it upon. To them, faeries were cute little things that dreams were made of, basically perfection in its best sense, with kind hearts and helpful hands. Unfortunately, the world of fairies was much more complicated than that. Like the beings of Middle Earth (or unlike depending on how you looked at it), fairies had their good and their bad qualities. There were fairies where the good prevailed over the bad and fairies where the bad over prevailed the good. Within the Fairy World there were times of panic, tears, and injustice. Fairies were nowhere near perfect.

Fairies were, in actuality, a type of elf. They were immortal in the fact that they could not age, but not invincible. Unlike elves, however, they could not die in battle (not only because fairies did not believe in battle and were generally peaceful on the physical side of things to their own kind); they could only die from Grief. Also unlike elves, after death they reverted to their pure spirit form (something they were able to do while alive as well, on top of being able to change their form) and slowly drifted upwards, the sky enfolding the broken faery into it's arms and giving it an eternal place of honor as a star.

There were also many different types of fairies, and contrary to popular belief not all of them were beautiful and possessed wings. There were Gnomes, Selkies, Fays, and Pixies just to name a very small few. Each one possessed it's own beliefs, skills, and purpose. Some lived to help others, while some merely brought senses of dread and annoyance to as many as they could. There were some that held the nature's secrets and used that and the magic they possessed to help Mother Nature. These fairies were called fays, a type of faery that could change their form at will and was required to do so at the end of each season to accommodate their new tasks.

As it was currently spring in Middle Earth the fays were busy with tasks such as helping buds blossom and awakening various animals from their hibernation. At this moment one particular fay was having a bit of trouble completing her task.

"DAMNIT!" she screeched, although in her current state (which consisted of her being smaller than a dragon fly) it was such a small sound that it didn't even bother a blue jay that was perched in a near by branch.

This was just not Tangle's day. She had found a rather large tulip, surely to be very beautiful once it had bloomed, but the damned petals just weren't cooperating! She tried again, flying to the very top of the bud where the petals met. She placed both of her thin hands around the edge of one petal and her feet placed firmly against a different petal. She mentally prepared herself, counting in her head to three: "One, two, three!" before she pulled with all her might.

Despite her efforts it stay firmly closed for some reason. Tangle, being the stubborn fay that she was, continued on though, refusing to admit defeat against a flower and continued to pull with all her might. After many seconds of what was rather pointless effort her fingers finally slipped from the edge of the petal, sending her spiraling backwards from the force.

She stumbled and finally settled on her butt a few inches from the stupid (as she now referred to it) flower. She stood, brushing off the light blue dress she had been wearing and ran her long fingers through her hair. Had she been human or an elf, her features would seem very odd indeed; she possessed pale blue hair that was so short that it resembled that of a young boy's, as well as shocking violet eyes. This was a common occurrence in her own people though so she never thought much of it.

She placed one hand on her small hip as she thought about what to do with this little predicament. Before she got a chance to reach a conclusion however she heard (and felt) the loud banging of what had to be several horses. Horses she was fine with, but the elves that lived around these parts she tried to avoid, like all of her kind.

Her violet eyes darted around for a moment before she spotted the tulip she had successfully opened before she had come across the last one. Quick as can be she flew towards it and set her self down within it's concealing petals. Inside of her red sanctuary she pulled two of the petals away from each other to give herself a small peak hole to look through.

There were five of them or so, she hadn't taken the time to count exactly how many there were, each one carrying a tall blonde rider; the typical elf of Greenwood. They were obviously some sort of nobility; their garments gave them away despite the fact that they were dressed casually for what must have been a hunting party. She was considering changing her form to something a bit smaller as to give her a better opportunity to pester the group without being seen until one rider from the back rode closer and caught her eye.

Tangle was sharp witted and quick even amongst her own kind who were known for being so, yet at the site of this creature she was struck dumb for a moment. To any of her kin he wouldn't seem to be anything special; tall, blonde and blue eyed, as was practically every elf in the Emerald Wood, (they even had many jokes about that exact topic come to think of it). They probably wouldn't have been able to tell him apart from the others after being so used to the fairies that were very different from each other. In all honesty she was the exact same way, but at the moment she was positive she could never confuse him with another elf.

The afternoon sun that beat down on them seemed to glow off of his golden hair, almost making it seem as if he had a halo surrounding his head. His mouth was pressed into a firm, serious, line, but something in his beautiful blue eyes told her he had the potential to laugh and joke as well as any fairy; it just needed to be brought out of him. She cocked her head to one side and let it rest against the arm she had stretched against the length of the petal and let out a dreamy sigh.

Had he been a fairy she was pretty sure she would have tackled him to the ground by now, despite the problems it had caused the last time she had done that many years ago. One of the other riders pulled up and blocked her view of the handsome male and her dreamy, love sick smile immediately turned into an angry frown, her violet eyes glaring daggers at the annoyance as she contemplated biting his ear.

"Sire," the unnamed annoyance said to the beauty ", it might be best if we retreated back to the palace, the game seems to be scarce and the trip back is long enough from here as it is"

'Sire?' she thought to herself. So not only was he nobility, he was the Crowned Prince Legolas she had heard of. Odd she would be attracted to such as him seeing as from what small descriptions she had heard of him described him as cold and serious while remaining polite. Tangle herself was a smart-witted prankster with little to no ability to remain polite or serious on any occasion. Not to merntion that despite her age (nothing spectacular in elf or fairy years, but still several human lifetimes) she had the tendency to be as immature as the next young human child. Oh, Bramble and Dill would be dying from laughter if they could see Tangle looking like a lovesick puppy to some elf right about now!

'Well, he's not just any elf now is he? I mean he's a prince after all right? Doesn't that make them automatic swoon quality?' she tried to reason to herself, but it wasn't making her feel much better. Fairies never had a problem with love, they truly embraced it in truth, and of course Tangle had had her share of infatuations and relationships, but she always managed to stay within her normal Tangle character (the tackling to the ground was really quite a Tangle thing to do, unlike staring dreamily at her newest crush). Not to mention he was an elf. Fairies didn't have a problem with elves per say, they just found them to be amusing and made many jokes at their expense as neighboring countries might do. To fairies, the elves seemed much too reserved and proper as well as rather similar over all (as she had mulled over before)

"Yes" Legolas, spoke and Tangle broke herself out of her musing and listened to him speak with rapt attention, "That might be the best course of action at the moment, let us turn back"

Oh no! He couldn't leave! She wasn't sure how to get to the palace from here and she had a feeling that they wouldn't cross paths again. Even if this was some silly crush she couldn't help herself from looking around her, as if expecting the solution to make itself known.

She could have a reason to go to the palace right? What if she needed a new person to pester or something? Wouldn't those stuffy nobles be perfect? She thought all of this to herself whilst convincing her mind that she didn't want to go there for some elf. With this in mind she intensified her search. When her eyes fell on one of his companion's packs she realized that the solution had just jumped out at her screaming. Quick as she could, she flew up behind the elf's retreating back and slipped under the bag's flap.

She poked her head out from underneath and let her arms rest on the top of the bag, she made a conscious effort to keep track of every tree and land mark they passed as a way to find her way back home, and although she would never admit it, a way to get to the palace whenever she wished later.

So what do you think so far? Should I trash it or keep going? If I don't get too many positive reviews I may not continue, as it is what keeps me going.


	2. Sticky Situations

Author's Note1: I'm absolutely speechless! Thank you so much for all of your positive reviews! To those of you that reviewed, you are the reason that this second chapter is now out! A special thanks to JoanMilligan for her wonderful advice!

Author's Note2: I am currently changing the title of this story to "Fairy Tale" as I already have the ending and basic meaning of this story worked out and it fits mcuh better than the original title.

Author's Note3: I'm changing the rating of this story to PG-13, if the content in this story goes beyond that I will change it back to R, or if any of you think it needs a higher rating please let me know.

Author's Note4: There are elven names in this chapter and please excuse the missing accent marks, I currently am unaware of how to make them, if anyone knows please e-mail me and tell me how, it will be greatly appreciated!

Author's Note5: I'm going back and changing the speeling of "faery" I have to the traditional spelling of "fairy" to make things simpler, especially seeing as I myself seem to switch back and forth from one to the other.

And now with ramblings finished, on with the show!

Tangle groggily opened her eyes after she had been jolted awake by some type of movement. A moment of confusion followed since she wasn't used to waking up in a dark supply bag, but after a second or two the fog cleared, only to have a sense of panic set in.She had fallen asleep! How would she ever get home now?

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a large hand reaching inside of the bag. Tangle's violet eyes widened even more so in panic, thoughts raced through her head on what to do, especially since it seemed to be reaching for the apple she was currently sitting on. Without time to fully think this out, Tangle merely went with instinct and made the very stupid move of merely hanging on to the small stem pertruding from the apple for dear life.

The apple was quickly swept up and out of the bag, and all Tangle could do was hope that she was small enough that whoever had the apple in their hands wouldn't notice the large wings she possessed, now seeming to sprout out of the red skin of the fruit. She concentrated on merely holding on until the apple was placed on the surface of a wooden table top, where it immediately began to turn on its side due to the extra weight Tangle presented. Tangle used what little upper body strength she had to pull the rest of her body to the top of the apple where her hands were still gripping the stem, as a means to avoid being crushed by the large fruit.

Once the apple stopped it's movements she let out a small sigh of relief, and it was only then that she noticed her surroundings and the many people within them. Her eyes widened yet again as she realized she was in what appeared to be a kitchen, filled with female elves! They were all talking amongst themselves as they went through they're individul tasks. The one who had picked her out of the bag was only a foot or so away from her on the other side of the table, unpacking what must have been uneaten food left from the hunter's trip.

As she was doing this she was talking quite animatedly with the elleth across from her who was currently preparing some type of food, as various choppped vegetables as well as a sharp knife were sitting next to where she was currently stirring something in a large bowl. This elleth seemed a little thinner than the first, with blonde hair several shades lighter as well. Being an immortal herself, she was obviously used to telling a creatures age by different means than looks, the older you were the more the air about you changed, giving off a sense of wisdom and experience rather than naivity and excitement. Because of this she could easily assume that the heavier elleth was quite a bit older than the other.

The older one tsked as she continued on the conversation Tangle had only now begun to notice, "With such a face as fine as that you'd think he'd be settled down, with a pretty little wife of his own"

The other one responded with a slightly dreamy, even hopeful answer of "Well, maybe he just hasn't...found the right one yet." she put the bowl aside and reached for one of the half chopped vegetables before continuing with her work, a smile graced her lips as she continued to look down at her task before she added "I bet he's just real sensitive. A romantic"

Tangle mentaly rolled her eyes at this elleth, she always seemed to feel disgust at the sappy, love sick, girls she came across (she was currently in denial of her own actions towards a certain blue eyed elf, merely hours ago). She eyed the bowl, it was rather large and she needed a place to hide before she was noticed behind the apple. She couldn't even change her form to an ant or something along those lines as the change always entailed a short period of transformation to her pure spirit form (which was basicly a lot of bright, very noticeable light) before it changed into whatever form she was intending. If she did so she would definately be noticed, not to mention she wasn't sure she'd be any safer as an ant. She highly doubted these elves would appreciate an insect in their rather clean kitchen.

"Well, whatever he is, that man needs himself a nice girl to settle down with. If she's half as beautiful as himself, they'll have such adorable children" the older elf said, the last sentence coming out with a certain amount of glee. As they were talking, Tangle took their distracted state as an opportunity to scurry from behind the overturned apple, over to the side of the bowl that was concealed by their view. Tangle flattened her body against the side of the bowl, trying her hardest not to be seen as she tried to figure out what her next move should be; she couldn't hide behind here forever after all.

The younger elleth leaned in closer, as if about to share some large secret, and in a whisper said "Linwe told me that she over heard his advisors talking in the study, apparently all these festivals and such that seem to be popping up out thin air are they're doing, they're just hoping to find him a bride", she gave a light laugh at the end of her tale, before leaning back up with a satisfied grin on her face, seeming pleased with herself for sharing such a juicy piece of gossip.

The older elf tsked again before saying a scolding tone "That Linwe is such a twitter, she's going to get herself in a right spot of trouble if she doesn't stop with all this eaves dropping and gossiping she does.", after a few moments she continued with, "All the same it isn't a half bad idea, he keeps himself so busy he barely gets to meet new elleths, let alone fall in love with one! This'll just give him the oppurtunity he needs to turn this place into a right kingdom"

Tangle had stopped listening quite some time ago however, as her mind was still caught in the snare of debating how to save her hide. She was snapped out of this only when she heard, "Nienna, scoop some of that from the bowl, we need to send a serving up with his dinner"

Oh no! They were talking about the bowl she was currently hiding behind! Without time to register how utterly stupid this idea was, she reached her thin arms up, her hands grasping the edge of the bowl and pulled herself up. Her legs scrambled against it's smooth surface as she tried to make her way up and suddenly she could feel the bowl being lifted by the elleth's hands. This little jolt was just what she needed to bring herself up and over the rim of the large bowl, and dropping into what appeared to be...chocolate pudding. Damnit.

Taking a large breath she ducked underneath the sticky, brown surface. She was fully intending on being able to just stay down there until the bowl was palced back down on the table, but things really hadn't been going Tangle's way that day, so this, of course, was no different. All of a sudden she felt herself being lifted up, with a slight sense of alarm her head broke through the surface of the pudding, only to look down and realize that she was currently very high up and moving, she had been scooped up by that stupid little twit! Tangle felt her hands gripping the sides of the ladle that was currently moving closer to a glass desert bowl. For someone who could fly, Tangle was more than a little afraid of heights when her wings weren't the ones causing the difference in altitude.

Continuing the habit she had become used to lately of making idiotic moves, she scrambled, trying to make her way out of the ladle, but before she was successful she felt herself being flipped over, landing on something quite hard and then the inmistakeable feeling of being covered in pudding.

She hadn't had the time to take a breath before this rahter rough transition into the desert dish and found herself desperately craving it. Flailing her arms she made her way to the top of the pudding, taking a large breath and coughing loudly (at least to her own her ears) just in time for the light around her to disappear as a lid was put over the large silver platter the pudding dish had been placed on.

Great, just great, she was in somebody's dinner with pudding up her nose. Perfect.

She placed her hands on the end of the glass cup and attemtped to pull herself up. Her feet pushed against the inside of the cup, trying to aid her, but they merely continued to slip in the pudding. She felt the muscles in her arms burning as she was able to make a bit of progress, only to feel a sudden jolt as the tray was picked up, tossing her back into the pudding.

After a few seconds she poked her head out of the pudding, taking a small breath. Tangle rolled her eyes before slapping one of her hands against her forhead just a little too forcefully.

"Ow!"

Now rubbing the spot with the same hand she pulled herself out a little bit more, just enough for her wings to have some room. A light flicker and a good deal of the pudding was flicked off and onto the sides of the silve platter. Another couple flaps and she was rising up and out of the rather constricting desert.

She stilled in the air for a few moments, just long enough to shake majority of the chocolate off of her before resting her feet back on the silver platter, silently fuming. She really couldn't see much of anything as the cover to the serving tray locked all of the light out so she merely waited for the movement of the tray to disist, signaling that it had been put down.

She waited several moments, hearing a quiet, muffled, voice, and then nothing. It was silent for many minutes until she heard someone placing their hands on the lid, and then the first rays of light entered in. Tangle, not wanting to be seen, flew to the rounded top of the cover, plastering herself against it.

When it reached a point in mid air she cauitously flew down to the ridge, peaked underneath it, and flew out, making sure to end up on the side not facing who ever currently had it in their grasp. Following it a bit until she was in the clear, she flew behind the person who was currently sitting with his back facing away from the large windows that showed a spectacular view of the gardens, at a very large, wooden desk. Seeing as she was behind him, the only thing she could see was a head of long, blonde hair.

"Big surprise", she thought to herself.

She looked down at what was once her blue dress. Now, Tangle wasn't a stickler for neatness, but being dunked in a bowl of pudding was a crushing blow to her ego, so without much extra thought put into it, she flew behind the nearby curtain. Then she reached down and with her long fingers, scraped off a good hunk of the pudding still clinging to the fabric, pulled her arm back, and threw it right at the random elf's head stupid, blonde, head.

The elf's reactions were quick, he reached a hand back to touch the rather small bit of pudding as he turned to face in the other direction from which it was thrown. It was then, and only then, that she realized this "random elf" was none other than Legolas.


	3. Starry Nights

Author's Note: Alright, let me just remind everyone that I am unsure of how to make accent marks on my ketboard, so please excuse their absences in the elven names.! Thank you!

* * *

"What have you done now?" the little voice inside of her head hissed angrily. One might call it a conscience of sorts, and with the persistently large gaps in between it's appearences, Tangle would be willing to bet thats excactly what it was. It didn't matter that consciences were suppose to be your moral standing, she figured her conscience saw the work ahead of it., and decided to merely berate her for doing something wrong, rather than going through the struggle of trying to stop the event before it happened. A smart thing that conscience was.

Tangle quickly turned inwardly into the curtains, trying to conceal herself as much as possible. She squenched her eyes tightly shut, as if believing that if she couldn't see him, then he would be unable to see her. She heard the large chair being pushed back as he stood, before the unmistakable sound of steps were head. He was apparenly walking around the desk for clues as to what had just happened. When the sounds of his foot falls ended, Tangle carefully and hesitantly pried one of her eyes open, letting it cautiously glance around before bringing the other one open as well. Timidly, she placed her hands on the edge of the cutrain and peaked over the side

She saw that Legolas had, once again, turned away from her and towards the desk, he seemed to be looking at the silver tray that she had been captive in only moments before.She looked at him curiously as she watched him dip his fingers down against the silver surface, touching something.She craned her head outward more, not wanting to leave the safety of the curtain any more than she already had, and saw to her horror he was looking at the tracks she had made with her less than graceful exit form the pudding!

Tangle bit her lip nervously, contemplating the best course of action that would save her sorry hide.Her answerw was given by the slight breeze she felt brush against her back. Turning around, Tangle realized that the window was indeed open. Tangle quickly flew to the ledge, looking down she saw the large (and rather beautiful) garden, that had an intricate water fountain placed dead center.

Without further hesitation, Tangle began to fly out and down towards the garden, intentionally landing right into the it's blue waters. The water was cool and refreshing, even more so after having been previously covered in chocolate. She swam underneath the water for several seconds, letting herself revel in the sensation of being clean again, before air became an issue, at which point she headed upward towards the surface.

Her head popped through as she stretched her arms behind her, letting her legs kick lightly, forming a sort of back stroke. From this position she looked upwards and saw the color of the sky had transformed from the light, cheery blue, to vairous reds and yellows as the sun made its descent. After all of this commotion, the tranquil atmosphere of the gardens was a welcome treat, so Tangle remained where she was, floating in the once pristine waters of the fountain, watching the sun set.

* * *

Tangle's thin hand moved it's way up to her upper arm, stroking it lightly as the night chill began to take a hold of her. The sun had long since retired, leaving the sky a delightful midnight blue, with the stars shining brightly. Tangle remained on the fountain's edge, where she had been for quite some time now. As rambunctious as she was, even she could take a moment to quietly appreciate something so beautiful. Then again, there were other beautiful things she could be looking at....

Her eyes glance upwards to the window she knew to be his study. The curtains remained drawn, but the light that glowed from within it signified that he was still there, working on whatever it was that he had to work on. Another light breeze picked up, chilling her even more. She looked back to the sky once more before she allowed her wings to once again take flight.

She flew up to the small balcony that she had failed to notice in her haste to leave the room before, landing on the detailed, white railing. As the balcony was really too small for someone to even place a chair upon, and there was only the window, and no door leading out to it, it became apparent that it was merely for show. She stood there for a second, cocking her head to one side as she saw the shadowed form of Legolas moving from side to side within. He was pacing it would seem. Wanting to get a better look at the object of her affections that had caused her so much trouble as of late, she flew up to window, placing her hand upon it, intending to push it open, only to meet a great deal of resistence. It was closed. Damnit.

A shiver ran through her body, reminding her that she had more than one reason for seeking shelter inside. Wrapping her arms around her upper body, she began to fly again, spotting another window, she pressed into it only to find that one closed as well.

This went on for a good long while until she found one with light still pouring forth from it. The curtains inside of the room had been drawn back so Tangle peeked inside. Noticing that for some odd reason no one was inside, Tangle entered the open window, immediately heading to the roaring fire. She placed her hands, open palmed against the flame, letting her body warm up.

As she rubbed her hands together, her head turned, looking at her surroundings. It was a person's bedchambers it would seem, seeing as there was a large canopy bed across from the fire that she was currently standing in front of. There was also a large, wooden, armoir, as well as a large vanity mirror. The room was made in neutral earth tones, and the different travel bags at the corner of the room all suggested this to be a guest bedroom, rather than someone's personal chambers.

Figuring whoever was currently occupying the room would be back eventually, Tangle decided to spare herself the agony of having to dart around like a mad woman for a hiding place, and merely flew up to the top of the canopy, letting her body rest against the soft, cloth texture.

Sure enough, it was only a matter of minutes before she heard the tell tale sound of the door knob being turned, as well as footsteps as the person walked in. Turning onto her stomache, Tangle, rested her head upong her arms at the edge of the canopy, allowing her to see the room from above without being spotted. Two elleths had entered, the one in front leading the second seemed to be of nobility of some sort, as the emerald gown she wore would surely indicate. The other one however, was dressed much more simply, most likely a lady in waiting to the first.

"A masquerade ball, how exciting!" the first said jubilantly, she seemed rather silly to Tangle as she flung the amoir doors open as she hit the word "exciting".

The second elleth merely nodded, but the first continued on, not seeming to mind the absence of the other's speech, "It will be so beautiful! I will certainly have to look my best. Oh, that Lessien is going to be green with envy be the end of tomorrow's eve!"

The second elleth noded again, before saying in an overly sweet tone that portrayed her incincerity "Oh, yes, Lessien will be mortified for sure when she sees you in thatg new gown you acquired" before she added "Although, you'd be able to cause such a reaction in even garbs as plain as these, Lady Enelya", gesturing to her own humble attire.

Tangle was shocked when Enelya merely continued in her task of pulling out a royal blue gown, not seeming to notice how her servant was so clearly lying to her. This sense of awe only continued as she walked in front of the full length mirror, holding the gown against her body, and said "Well, yes, I suppose thats true. Then again, the only one who has ever held her looks in high regard is herself" she laughed at her own joke while she held a silk scarf to her neck with her free hand, before tossing it over her shoulder, having it land on the bed spread.

"Too true, miss, too true indeed" said the second elleth before she went to pick up the discarded scarf, carefully foling it and placing it back on the comforter. Enelya, yet again, seemed to pay her no mind as she was already holding up another scarf to her neck before tossing it as she did the second one, then picking up a third. The scarves were very pretty, and obviously of very high quality, and Tangle thought it to be a bit, well, rude, to treat them as if they meant nothing.

After the third and forth scarf failed to meet whatever standards she had, she groaned in melodramatic frustration and picked up a colorfully decorated mask, "I have to look ravishing, Nessa. His Highness will be attending of course, and one must make a presentation", she tried adjusting the mask in several ways before saying "Hm, perhaps I should acquire a smaller mask, one shouldn't hide a blessing you know". The mask was actually very nice as well, covering around her eyes and the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, that would be a true shame indeed" Nessa answered, her voice and enthusiasm never changing, "But if he is not enticed by your beauty, miss, he'll surely fall for your wit"

Tangle's lips dragged down into a frown, not liking where this conversation was going one bit.

Enelya, smiled into the mirror at that, "Well, there is always that.", she moved her hand to the billowing skirts of the gown, making it swish around her, "I really need not worry as much I suppose, His Highness has always been known for his good taste."

At this point, Tangle was seriously considering pulling every single piece of hair off of her bloated, blonde head. Getting a hold of her temper long enough to realize that that wasn't a possibility, since not only would she be seen, but she needed a place to sleep. Then again, in all honesty she wasn't sure if she could stand a night in this room with that elleth.

Enelya hanged the gown back in the armoir before sitting on the small stool in front of the vanity, Nessa automaticly walked behind her, grabbing a brush off of the table and begna to brush out the Lady's long, golden tresses.

Tangle looked down at the bed spread, where the folded scarves still lay. Hm...she really was taking her things for granted before was she? One couldn't blame someone for mistaking it for a sign of not wanting them, could they? With a smirk firmly in place, Tangle took advantage of their distraction, flying down to the bead spread, before swiftly picking up two of the silk pieces of cloth.

Tangle hid behind one of the wooden banisters, glancing at the pair to make sure they were still well enough distracted before making a quick dart to the window, flying out without a second glance.

* * *

Tangle found herself flying back towards Legolas's study. The light still remained, and apparently, so did he. She stopped in mid-air to look at the winndow for a moment before heading towards the green ivy that climbed the walls of the palace. Right underneath his balcony, as a way to avoid being seen, she tied the ends of one of the scarves to the questing plant, creating a makeshift hammock for herself. Next she carefully folded the second scarf several times so that it would be thicker, and accomaodate her size.

She carefully settled down in her silk bed, pulling her "blanket" over her, finding herself surprisingly warm. She knew that she had never slept in a more perfect place, under the starry sky, overlooking the most beautiful garden she had ever seen, and very near to a certain elf.

* * *

Well, there is the third chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, I think it might have been a bit rushed, but let me know what you think! Remember, the more reviews I get, the sooner you'll see an update!


	4. Second Guessing

Author's Note: Here's the fourth chapter, please excuse it's tardiness!

Tangle skimmed her long fingers through the fountain's drak waters, the tiniest of ripples being sent out, disturbing the incredibly clear reflection of the sparkling stars. Tangle had taken to the fountain, and the garden in general for that matter, as a sort of haven. She spent her nights in her make-shift hammock that still rested below the small balcony, and spent a lot of the cool evenings merely sitting by the fountain's trickling waters. When she couldn't be found there she was usually making her way through the palace, finding the antics of the nobles very amusing indeed. Granted, the constant tripping might have been attributed to the thin piece of string she had been able to acquire and set up across the hall, unfortunately they didn't seem to share in her humor very much. Well, you couldn't please everyone all the time now could you?

For the short week or so she had been there the palace had slowly but surely filled up with different elves. Being able to change her size to that of a flea had served quite useful as it helped her pick up interesting tid bits around the palace. Among other things she had been able to learn that the masquerade ball that was currently going on inside was merely the beginning of a long list of events such as archery tournaments, feasts, city tours, and several other formal occasions.

Tangle remembered her arrival, what that elleth had said about Legolas's advisors being behind this. She couldn't help but think of all the trouble they would have gone through to set all of this up; why all the fuss to find someone else a wife? It seemed more than a bit odd to her fairy mind. Fairies were firm believers in fate; going where the tides led you, an interference such as this seemed like an unnecessary hassle. Tangle may not have been a romantic, but all the same, love wasn't something you were plotted and pushed into, of that she was sure.

Tangle folded her arms behind her head and let herself lay against the cold stone of the fountain, her gaze remaining on the stars. From here she could hear the loud conversing of the many elves inside the ballroom. The soft music of a stringed instrument seemed to float through the air, penetrating the crowd's chatter, making its way down to her, it's melody a bewitching and beguiling sound.

She found herself sitting back upwards, before her wings twitched into life, slowly bringing her upwards and towards the music.She hadn't planned on going anywhere near the festivities, being squashed not a very appealing idea to her at the moment, but she found herslef almost being pulled there by the joyful shouts of excitement, and the appealing music.

The sounds brought her around to a different side of the castle into a larger garden than the last. Maybe it was because she had gained a personal attatchment to the smaller garden, but this one didn't seem as nice to her. While the first garden seemed to be there for the beauty of the plants, this seemed to have been made for mingling and impressing. Indeed, the fountain that she found was much grander than her own fountain, there were also many stone pathways for people to walk through, as well as the occasional bench.

She let her feet fall against the hard stone of the fountain's edge, before sitting down. There was a large balcony above, large enough for several couple to dance upon for sure, but only one lone figure stood agasint it's creamy white coloring. Wondering what kind of person would seek solace on the balcony while everyone else, clearly seemed to be having a marvelous time inside, Tangle found her looking towards the elf's face, only to be pleasantly surprised to find Legolas standing with blank features towards the garden, a silver goblet of what she guessed to be wine in one of his hands

She had spent much of her time at the palace sitting on the high bookshelves within his study, being content with merely looking down as he worked or read. She noticed he had the strange habit of gazing out of the window for the longest of times, with an unidentifiable look across his light features. At times like that she would catch herself with her chin resting against her palms, a silly smile crossing her lips, identical to what she was doing at this very moment.

She wasn't sure what it was about the two of them being the only ones outside of the crowds, even if they weren't together, that made her stomache feel funny. It was like everything was moving around in there.

Whatever it was that had been moving around in there suddenly compacted into a very heavy ball and dropped into her stomache, as a tall elleth in a royal blue gown and mask matching that of what she had seen Enelya showing off, walk onto the balconly, swiftly approacing Legolas.

The dropping in her stomache seemed to cause a chain reaction as the corners of her mouth swiftly dragged themselves down until her face was set in a definate scowl of anger.

Legolas must have heard her approaching as he turned around to greet her, a smile on his face which only caused Tangle's frown to deepen. She watched as she dipped into an annoyingly graceful curtsy, before he took her hand and placed a light kiss upon it.

She watched as the elleth placed a small hand against his shoulder as she spoke, to Tangle's annoyance she could not hear what was being said from this distance. Without much second thought or hesitance she was flying up towards the balcony with jealousy fueled speed. Her uncovered feet hit the rough surface of the balcony's floor,on the outside of the white columns around it, which served as a good hiding, and eavesdropping, place for the tiny fairy. She was rather close to the two and had to crane her neck upwards to watch them, but their voices were much clearer now.

"It seems the magnificence of The Emerald Wood has out done it's famous reputation on this beautiful night. I dare say there isn't a forein creature within that isn't positively green with envy, Your Highness.", said Enelya, her voice positively dripping with sugar. Tangle really hoped none of it landed on her.

Legolas made a noise at the back of his throat before a small smile graced across his lips, "As always, Lady Enelya, you seem to surprise me with your...optimism", his voice was polite, but Tangle could sense a tinge of annoyance within it. Or was she merely hoping she did?

"One cannot help to be in a joyous mood with such festivities as these...and such company as well", she leaned foward more, or to be more specific, her rather large chest began to brush against him in a "subtle" manner. Legolas placed his own hand on top of hers that was still across his chest, gently pulling it off and away from him as he took a step backwards. Tangle smiled.

"We always aspire to be hospitable to our guests. I am pleased to hear you have been enjoying yourself so.", another smile as he lets go of her hand. She whoever, did not let go, her fingers began to brush their way across his wrist and up his forearm as she took another step towards him, invading the little bit of personal space he had just gained merely moments ago.

Tangle swore she actually saw red at that, the red in her vision seemed to carry her foward as she flew upwards, towards the blonde head of that infuriating elleth.

"Yes, I have been enjoying myself very - OW!", Enelya screeched before her hand flew away from the Prince's towards the back of her head. Tangle snickered to herself, letting the couple strands of golden hair currently in her hands drift towards the balcony floor.

"Milady, are you alright?", he exclaimed with a certain tinge of alarm and confusion. She rubbed the back of her head for a moment before seeming embarressed that the "spell" she had over the Prince was broken. She seemed to try and cover up by letting her hand drop towards her skirts before saying, "Why yes, your highness...th-thank you for your concern, my hair must have caught on something" before giving a short laugh.

She began to move her hand back towards his arm, "And as I told you before I - OW!", her hand immediately flew to the back of her head once again.

Legolas was staring at her strangely now, maybe it was because of her earlier explanation and the fact that there was nothing for her hair to be caught upon at the moment. "Milady, are you sure you are well? Would you perhaps prefer to retire for the evening?"

"No!" she shouted a bit too loudly as she struggled to recover her stature, this time immediately leaning extremely close, both hands coming to rest on his chest, he himself seemed a bit abashed.

Enelya did this a bit too quickly, well that was a bit rude of her wasn't it? Not to mention that elves were supposed to be smooth and graceful, and the fact that she was obviously very unsteady on her feet at the moment would be more than enough of a reason to make sure she learned from her mistakes. Yes, Tangle felt herslef flying slightly backwards for momentum before speeding, hands plam out towards the elleth's back. She slammed against her, normally this would have merely been annoying to Enelya, but in her current state of imbalance it was more than enough to send her stumbling into the Prince, his goblet of wine falling against her chest and the front of her dress. Yes, Tangle had merely helped her to improve herself, some people just didn't know what was good for them.

She heard some screeching and such, most likely from Enelya, but she didn't stick around to see the full results of her actions as she was already flying back down towards the fountain. She landed slowly, a frown still marring her features. For some reason that didn't give her the same pleasure she expected it would. It felt like a hollow victory in a way. Why was that?

Tangle looked down into the water, catching the reflections of the stars yet again, and that is when she reached her answer to why she didn't feel like she had won against Enelya.

She looked down at her reflection. She saw herself. She saw Tangle, and for the first time in her entirely long life, she didn't like what she saw. She had never held her looks in high regard, she had always been quite indifferent to them, but now they seemed very important for reasons that were beyond her understanding.

She flew upwards just a bit and flew over the water, turning herself face down, merely an inch from the waters reflecting surface giving her a full view of herself. From this angle the flaws in her physical self seemed to be screaming at her for recognition.

She ran her fingers through her short, light blue hair. It was a nice shade she supposed, but now it seemed as if it weren't. It was blue. It was odd. It was so short that she really had very little to run her hands through. At this she remembered how Enelya's hair had reached well to her waist in waves of shining gold.

She focused on her eyes next. She had large eyes, in an annoyingly bright shade of purple. They really made her seem a bit crazed...although that could be attributed to different reasons as well.

She was very thin too.Too thin. Not only her body but her face as well, she had very sharp features, and a chin that seemed much too strong. She remember a much older fairy who lived back in the tangled roots and tree limbs of the forst floor where she had grown up, she remembered how she had spoken of her chin in amusement, saying it was a warning sign to all that crossed her path that she was more stubborn than anything else they would ever see.

She had truly taken pride in that at the time, so why did it only serve to bring her mood down further to hear the voice repeating them yet again in her head?

A picture of Enelya's face flashed into her mind, as if haunting and taunting her with it's perfection. She had such soft features, that seemed very complimented with the color of her eyes and hair. She seemed so...perfect! Tangle looked at herself and only saw the contradictions, and the different features and colors that seemed to clash together in a very unattractive manner.

Finally, her calloused hands found their way across her body, first falling past her breast area, an area one could easily miss as there was really nothing there to see. They continued down to her hips that seem completely parallel to eachother; not a single curve to speak of.

With a very defeated look upon her face she made her away from the waters to rest on the cool stone of the fountain. She sat there for several moments, her knees pulled up to her chest where her chin rested upon her arms, her face turned towards the now empty balcony. Like was pouring forth from it, carrying sounds of laughter, and the music that just seemed to call to her.

It was a fast tune, adding to the excited shouts from within, they all seemed so happy, dancing within there, the beautiful elleths dancing with the beauitufl elves. Spinning and twirling to enchanting instruments, not a single fault to be found amongst the bunch, all able to enjoy the perfect evening with their perfect partners.

Perfect Legolas. Perfect Enelya. In there. Together. Perfectly.

Anyone else would say they were made for eachother. She was everything a noble elf could want and expect in a wife. Why couldn't she be like Enelya? Sure she was positively maddening to Tangle, but if she appealed to people like Legolas then she had to be doing something right. why couldn't she be that one? Why couldn't she be the elleth to sweep him off his feet? Why couldn't she be the prime example of what an elleth should be? Why couldn't she look like the damned Enelya did?

It was then that realization hit he quite forcefully in the back of the head.. She _could_ look like Enelya! She could _be_ like Enelya! She could be exactly the type of elleth that Legolas would find attractive!

She lifted her head up from her arms, her saddened frown replaced with a determined smirk


End file.
